What futures are in store for international security? Join us to discover a range of cutting-edge research on the shifting terrain of international order. What new strategies, alliances, hierarchies, and technologies will shape futures of international security?

Panel 1: (In)Security Actors Beyond the State

Chair & Discussant: Dr Ewan Stein, University of Edinburgh

Who Are the Agents? A Relational Autonomy Approach to Female Suicide Bombings - Jue Wang, Durham University
Intricate Affiliations: The Iraqi State and its Militias - Jaida Keaveney, University of Edinburgh
Understanding the Motivations of Sahelian Jihadists through Examining their Life Stories: A Case Study of Land Dispossession in Central Mali - Tchello Kasse, Norwegian University of Life Sciences
Ukrainian Drones and the Deteriorating Notion of ‘Direct Participation in Hostilities’ in Contemporary Conflict - Joe Murphy, University of Edinburgh

Panel 2: Times & Timings of Militarism & War

Chair & Discussant: TBC

Feminist Foreign Policy in Times of Militarism and Ontological Insecurity - Dr Annika Bergman-Rosamond, University of Edinburgh
Disarmament in the Third Nuclear Age - Dr Rhys Crilley and Dr Carolina Panico, University of Glasgow
Ritualized Wartiming in Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: The Three-Day War of 2022-2025 - Dr Andrew R Hom, University of Edinburgh
Automating Strategic Ambiguity: AI and Russia’s Evolving Deterrence Architecture - Dr Luba Zatsepina, Liverpool John Moores University

Panel 3: (De)Securitisation and Threat Construction

Chair & Discussant: Dr Cameron Harrington, Durham University

Populist Securitization, Populist Phantasms, and the Extraordinary Politics of Gender - Emily Pomeroy, Aberystwyth University
Economic Security and Great Power Rivalry – Back to the Future? - Dr Nicola Nymalm, University of Edinburgh
Wha’s like us? Desecuritisation of Migration as Ontological Security-Seeking in Scotland - Dr Ian Paterson and Dr Ben Rosher, University of Glasgow
Identity, Threat and Policy: American Justification for Strengthening US-Taiwan Security Relations Since the first Trump Administration - Zhehao Du, University of Edinburgh

Panel 4: Strategies & Alliances

Chair & Discussant: Professor Andrew Neal, University of Edinburgh

The Kempir-Abad Deal and the Evolving Regional Order in Central Asia Amidst the Decline of Liberal Internationalism - Ernest Zhanaev, University of St Andrews
Explaining Strategic Responses to cyber-enabled Threats in Space: USA, Russia, China, and the UK - Alexandra Ba-Tin, University of Edinburgh
Framing Power: A Computational Analysis of P5 Narrative Competition in the UNSC - Junjie Liu, University College Dublin
New Building of Alliance in Indo-Pacific Region? The Development of Quasi-Alliance - Chu Hung Yao (Peter Chu), University of Edinburgh

Keynote Talk

“The Politics of Play: Wargaming with the US Military” - Dr Aggie Hirst, King’s College London

CeSeR Conference 2025: Futures of International Security